The Lich Read Free Page B

still stared blankly into space.
    ‘Princess, I have to tell you something,’ Finn said.
    Before Finn continued, he looked at Jake and nodded toward the bedroom door.
    ‘Oh, gotcha,’ Jake said, understanding Finn’s need for privacy. ‘I’ll go get some tea.’ Jake then stepped out of the room.
    ‘Princess, the sweater you made me kept me safe,’ Finn said to the princess. ‘I almost got super messed up, but it saved me. And I wanted to say thank you for imbuing this sweater with the power of liking someone a lot, cause…I like you a lot.’
    Finn’s cheeks turned bright red as he finally confessed his like out loud. ‘We shouldn’t talk about this now,’ he added. ‘You should rest.’
    ‘Finn, I need you to get me some things,’ Princess Bubblegum replied weakly.
    ‘Yes, Princess,’ answered Finn.
    While Princess Bubblegum whispered her request into Finn’s ear, Jake came back into the room with Peppermint Butler. To the candy servant, the princess’s whispers sounded like demonic chanting. Peppermint Butler dropped his tea tray on the floor and hissed like a cat.
    ‘Whoa!’ Jake said as he put his paw on Peppermint Butler’s head.
    Jake started to tremble as he watched Peppermint Butler race from the room.
    ‘Something weird’s going on,’ he said, scared.
    ‘Jake!’ Finn shouted. ‘I’m going to get some stuff for PB! Be right back!’
    The last place in Ooo Jake wanted to be at that moment was stuck in the flower-filled room alone with the strange-acting princess.
    ‘Hey, princess. Sorry you’re not feeling good,’ he said nervously. ‘Oh, I’ll sing you a song. You love it when I sing songs.’
    Jake strapped on a karaoke speaker and microphone and morphed his belly into bongo drums. He began to tap a beat and sing a song about Princess Bubblegum.
    The princess did not look as if she was loving Jake’s song-and-dance number. In fact, her facial expression hinted that watching Jake’s act was more like pure torture to her. Princess Bubblegum gripped the blankets tightly in her fists and snarled. When she let go of the blanket and reached out, the flowers she touched instantly withered and died. Then all the flowers in the room died, too.
    Jake watched in fear as the princess’s body contorted into all sorts of weird positions. She spewed an unknown language at Jake, spit flying from her mouth and her voice sounding like nothing he had ever heard before.

    ‘Uh, this song’s not that good,’ Jake admitted. ‘It’s a bad one. I’m stopping.’
    Princess Bubblegum blathered some unintelligible babble at Jake.
    ‘And starting a new song!’ Jake announced, hoping this would calm her.
    Jake pounded his belly bongos while the princess rocked and raged on her bed, which was bouncing like a basketball being dribbled down the court. Suddenly, the room burst into flames. Jake backed up, only to find himself in the arms of a scorched, melting princess.
    ‘Jake,’ Princess Bubblegum groaned.
    Jake ran from the room in a panic.
    ‘Oh my gob…oh my gob…oh my gob!’ Jake shouted, sweat pouring down his fur. ‘Maybe the toxic waste did something to her brain. Maybe it made her have demon powers – or something!’
    Finn came running down the hallway, his arms full of the supplies the princess had requested. Jake stretched out his arms and grabbed his best buddy by the backpack.
    ‘Wait!’ he called to Finn. ‘What’s all that biz?’
    ‘Uh…bleach, lighter fluid, ammonia, gasoline,’ Finn replied. ‘I don’t know, lady stuff. Plutonium…’
    ‘No, man,’ Jake gasped. ‘No, no, no, no!’
    The bedroom door opened, and Princess Bubblegum ambled into the room, looking nothing like the scorched princess Jake had seen just a few seconds earlier. She lifted the supplies from Finn’s arms and muttered a quick, ‘Thanks.’ Then she returned to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
    ‘No probs!’ Finn said cheerfully.
    ‘Hold on!’ Jake pleaded. ‘PB’s bed was